Infinity
by dragonblast
Summary: Jaden struggles to understand the concept of infinity. - Rivalshipping. Oneshot.


For the first time in weeks, Jaden was studying. He was taking it very seriously, too, as he had not told his friends where he was — really, if he told them he was studying, they'd probably be concerned — and brought his books with him to the empty dueling arena. The only thing he had to distract himself was his deck and his pencil. Yes, he was doodling, but he couldn't help it! Math was hard! Besides power-ups and Life Point changes, he didn't see the point in a duelist knowing math. Was it even necessary? Why did they teach it?

"Agggggh!" His fingers combed through his hair and tugged frustratedly. He almost felt like throwing the book, but that wouldn't solve anything. He was going to learn this math if it took him all night! He needed to do better on tests.

"Well, well, look who we have here. If it isn't the Slifer slacker, all alone and without any of his friends."

Jaden looked up from his book, mouth set in a frown. 'What was he— Oh. Right.' It was Jaden's rotten planning that made him choose Obelisk Blue's dueling arena, and it was his rotten luck that the dueling arena wasn't so empty as he thought.

"What do you want, Chazz?"

"Oh, _not _so friendly today!"

"I'm studying!"

Chazz laughed. He laughed for a bit longer than what was comfortable until he realized Jaden was serious and his shock was so severe he couldn't even laugh, although he wanted to.

"Why? I thought you didn't care about school?"

It must have been a trick of the light, the way it reflected on his jacket and made red appear on his face. Yes. That seemed the most reasonable explanation for Jaden's face suddenly turning color like that.

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

Chazz snorted. "That's my line, loser, don't steal it because you're not as creative as me." He was across the arena now and he sat two rows down from Jaden, immediately lounging back against the row above.

Jaden turned his attention back to the text on his lap, but he'd dropped his pencil and he didn't want to grab it. Didn't need it right now anyway. He sighed and re-read the same formula that had been giving him trouble for the last twenty minutes or so. The figures blurred.

"What are you studying?"

"Math."

"Yeah, I _know_, I can _see_ the textbook. I'm asking what you're studying."

"The formulas. I just— I don't get this one! The others made sense eventually, but this one's driving me nuts!"

"Hmn. Let me see." Without thought, Jaden handed the book over and pointed at it. Chazz spent a moment reading it and then looked up, eyebrows raised. "So? What's the problem?"

"It has infinity in it. Every time I solve it, I get a different answer."

Chazz's eyes closed for a second and he breathed slowly outward. He needed to patient. It wasn't Jaden's fault he was so — "God, you're stupid." Okay, or not.

"Well, I didn't ask for your help anyway! If you're gonna be such a jerk, then—!" Jaden tore the book away and stood, but Chazz moved faster and grabbed his arm.

"Look, shut up for a second and listen to me. Infinity is a number that goes on forever."

"Yeah, _obviously_, that's what infinity _means_—"

"Don't get smart with _me_, slacker, when I'm the one explaining it to you."

Jaden's mouth pressed into a thin line, but he quieted and tilted his head in a mockery of patience. "Fine."

"Okay. Infinity goes on forever. When you plug it in with other numbers, it makes the result endless. You can have any result, because you get all of the results."

"What?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, look, you know how you go on about, like, believing your deck and how that makes anything possible?"

"Yeah…?"

"Infinity is like that. If you believe in your deck, you can win in any sorts of ways. Think of any of your duels. There was probably another way to win, right? But your deck chose that way. I mean, according to you. I don't believe in that bullcrap."

"So…" Jaden said, the words coming out slow as he processed them, "as long as I believe in anything, it's infinite, and it's infinite, then anything's possible?" He grinned brightly.

"That's not…" Chazz stopped because Jaden's huge smile was too ridiculous to squash. "Yeah. Close enough."

Jaden laughed, and muttered something. He turned quickly, picking up his stuff and left the arena, shouting a preoccupied-sounding thank-you to Chazz as he left.

Chazz stared at the exit for a while, mouth working repeatedly over the words he'd caught Jaden silently saying. He sat shakily, the sentence still resounding in his ears. Something orange caught his eye, and he picked up a pencil — Jaden's pencil. Bite marks were dug into the wood and the eraser was almost gone. A few Sharpie'd Winged Kuribohs decorated it, along with some smilies and a 'way awesome!' underlined four times. _Definitely_ Jaden's.

"Why would you want to believe in me?" he whispered.


End file.
